The Praying Mantis. 437 



carbon, and quickly plug it up by packing clay in the 

 hole and on the nest. The liquid will kill the ants. This 

 better be done when the ants are mostly in their nest. 



THE COW-KILLER. 



This ant-like insect, Mutilla coccinea (Fig. 216), has 

 been sent me from Illinois and the South as far as Texas. 

 It is a formidable enemy of the bees. The male has wings 

 and no sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed 

 of a powerful sting. She is an inch (25 mm.) long, very 

 hairy, and black, except the top of her head and thorax, 

 and a bx-oad basal band and the tip of the upper part of her 



Fig. 216. 



abdomen, which are bright red. A central band of black 

 divides the red spaces of the abdomen. The entire under 

 part of the body and all the members are black. 



So hard and dense is the chitinous crust of these insects 

 that they enter the hives fearlessly, and unmindful of stings, 

 deliberately kill the bees and feed on the young. The 

 males are said to sting. This is certainly a mistake. The 

 sting is a modified ovipositor — an organ not possessed by 

 males. These insects belong to the family Mutillidse, so 

 called because the females are wingless. They are closely 

 allied in structure to the ants, which they much resemble. 



THE PRAYING MANTIS. 



This strange insect I have received from Indiana and 

 other Southern and Western States. Its scientific name is 

 Mantis Carolina, Linn. It is very predacious, and the 

 female has been know^n to eat up her mate immediately 

 after the sexual act. No wonder that they make our friends 

 of the hive contribute to their support. This insect (Fig. 



